Documentum warns of Q1 '99 revenue shortfall
Hoping to ease the market's wrath, document management market leader Documentum has put out an early warning that its Q1 '99 financials will be well below expectations.
Documentum predicts total Q1 '99 revenue between $23 million and $26 million, a 4%-8% decline from Q1 '98 revenue. Documentum also predicts a significant operating loss for the quarter. Final results will be released on April 15.
Documentum blames the decline on a general industry slowdown in enterprise application sales, resulting in delays closing large license contracts. However, the company continues to be "very successful in competitive situations," claimed Documentum president and CEO Jeffrey Miller.
Wall Street's response to the news -- the Street expected Q1 '99 earnings of $0.14 per share -- was swift and devastating. At 3:45pm today DCTM stock had sunk to 10-1/8, a 42% drop from yesterday's close, and dipped as low as 9-7/8 earlier in the day.